K-9 SOP

Los Santos Police Department

Concrete RP · Specialized Division · K9 Division

307.1 — General Regulations

• K9 deployment is a privilege, not a right. Misuse will result in disciplinary action.

• K9 units are considered a force multiplier and must be used responsibly.

• The K9 is a departmental asset and must be handled with care.

• Handlers must maintain full control of their K9 at all times.

307.2 — Vehicle, Deployment & Scene Limits

• K9 handlers must operate a 4-door cruiser when deploying a K9.

• The K9 must remain secured in the vehicle when not actively deployed.

• K9s should not be deployed during 10-13 situations unless already engaged.

• K9s must not ride in the front passenger seat — K9s must be placed in the back seats only.

• When a K9 is assigned to your vehicle you may not transport suspects. The K9 occupies the rear compartment and no secure prisoner seat is available. Request a separate transport unit and remain with the suspect until it arrives.

Scene Ratio Limits

• 1 K9 per 5 officers on scene at any time — prevents overcrowding and control issues.

• On a 10-officer scene, a maximum of 2 K9 units are permitted.

307.3 — Officer Down (10-13) Protocol

If a 10-13 is called while the K9 is deployed:

• Immediately return to your cruiser.

• Secure / dismiss your K9 before responding.

Note: ⚠ Exception: If the K9 is actively engaged at the time of the 10-13, officer discretion applies.

307.4 — K9 Injury Protocol

If a K9 is downed during deployment:

• You have 10 minutes to revive or treat the K9.

• You may not deploy a new K9 until the downed K9 has been addressed.

⚠ Failure to comply may result in disciplinary action.

307.5 — Pursuit Restrictions (10-80)

• Handlers should avoid attaching to a 10-80 while a K9 is in their vehicle wherever possible.

• Where a handler does attach, the K9 unit will occupy one of the two parallel positions permitted under Policy 803.5 and will not occupy any of the three attached pursuit positions.

• Where Highway Patrol (32) units attach to the pursuit, the K9 unit will surrender any pursuit position and continue parallel.

• A K9 unit may take primary position only where no other unit is attached or available to assume the pursuit, and must surrender primary at the first opportunity.

• Handlers must maintain safe driving standards at all times.

307.6 — Body Camera and Reporting

• Body camera must be active at all times while a K9 is deployed.

• Every K9 release resulting in contact with a suspect is a reportable use of force and must be recorded in a Use of Force Report under Chapter 11, covering the deployment from initial release to recall.

• The requirement to submit a separate K9 deployment log is retired.

307.7 — K9 Use of Force

Note: K9 deployment is classified as Level 4 — Less Than Lethal under Policy 601.1.

• A deployed K9 is a force option equivalent to a taser or baton, and is subject to the same authorisation, warning and escalation requirements as those instruments.

• A K9 may not be released against a suspect who is compliant, restrained, or no longer posing a threat (Policy 602.2).

• A handler will operate one force option at a time. While a K9 is released, the handler will not simultaneously deploy a taser.

307.8 — K9 Deployment (10-70 / Foot Pursuits)

• K9 must be on leash before deployment.

• Officers must use clear verbal commands when deploying and handling K9 units at all times.

• K9 releases are governed by Policy 810. The handler must wait a minimum of one minute from the commencement of the foot pursuit and issue at least five vocal warnings for surrender before the first release.

• A minimum of 30 seconds must elapse between release attempts.

• A successful K9 apprehension counts as a physical intervention under Policy 810.3. After two successful interventions in total — by any combination of tackle, taser or K9 — the handler must recall the K9 and approach to restrain, announcing “Going for cuffs.”

• The K9 must be recalled the moment the suspect complies or is restrained.

10-99 (Active Scene) Guidance

A K9 will not be deployed on an active 10-99 except where:

1. the K9 was already released and engaged when the scene escalated;

2. a supervising officer of Sergeant or above expressly authorises deployment; or

3. the K9 is required for an explosives or firearms search after the scene has been declared secure.

Outside these circumstances the handler will secure the K9 in their vehicle.

307.9 — K9 Search Protocols

A K9 search requires reasonable suspicion under Policy 600.5.1 before the K9 is used. The suspicion must be specific and articulable, and must be recorded in the incident report. Qualifying examples include:

• an observed hand-to-hand exchange;

• a vehicle leaving the vicinity of a reported narcotics sale at speed or otherwise evasively;

• presence at or immediately beneath the location of an active narcotics call, together with at least one additional factor — flight, evasive behaviour, an observed exchange, or a confirmed narcotics-related record;

• presence in a restricted or closed area adjacent to a reported narcotics sale, together with at least one additional factor as above.

Presence alone, without an additional articulable factor, does not constitute reasonable suspicion and does not justify a K9 search.

K9 alerts provide probable cause. The following results may be returned during a K9 search:

Smells Like a Weapon

• Grants probable cause to search the vehicle.

• If no valid license → subject may be arrested.

Smells Like Drugs

• Provides probable cause to search and arrest.

Smells Like Explosives

• Draw lethal weapons immediately.

• Detain the suspect immediately.

• Note: Thermite is illegal, though not Class 4.

307.10 — Disciplinary Actions

Additional discipline may be applied per Command review.

307.11 — Chain of Command & Roles

Rank Designation

Note: The K9 Unit holds the rank of CPT (Captain), which is required for training and testing structure.

Unit Structure

Responsibilities

307.12 — K9 Commands

Core Commands

/k9

/k9spawn

/k9follow

/k9vehicle

/k9searchped

/k9searchcar

/k9track

/k9heal

/k9armor

Utility Commands

/k9registerdog

/k9savedog

/k9checkdog

/k9feed

/k9reselect

Interaction Commands

/k9sit

/k9laydown

/k9animations

/k9ball

/k9fetch

/k9carry

/k9camera

/k9mount

307.13 — Keybinds

Copy the following binds into your game console:

bind keyboard numpad2 "k9sit"

bind keyboard numpad3 "k9searchcar"

bind keyboard numpad4 "k9searchnpc"

bind keyboard numpad5 "k9vehicle"

bind keyboard numpad6 "k9follow"

bind keyboard numpad7 "k9carry"

bind keyboard numpad8 "k9searchped"

307.14 — K9 Vehicle Compromise

Where a police vehicle containing a K9 is stolen, disabled or destroyed:

• The handler must announce “K9 aboard” over the radio immediately.

• Recovery of a vehicle containing a K9 takes priority over the recovery of any other departmental vehicle.

• Spike strips will not be deployed against a vehicle known to contain a K9 (Policy 806).

• Tire shots, and any authorisation to fire on a driver under Code Red Alpha (Policy 807), are suspended while a K9 is aboard — unless the highest-ranking command member involved expressly authorises otherwise on the grounds of an immediate lethal threat to officers or civilians.

• Where a handler is flatbacked with a K9 secured in their vehicle, the nearest available unit assumes responsibility for securing both the vehicle and the K9.

• Where the K9 is injured or killed as a result, 307.4 applies from the point the vehicle is recovered.

LSPD SOP · Concrete RP · PUBLIC DOCUMENT — K9 Unit Division Policies & Standards